RMI History
RMI HISTORY
We are 5th generation Johnson County Kansans. Our family has a long history in the area beginning with our great great grandfather Robert Redpath. He farmed several hundred acres and patented many farm and industrial designs including one of the first vacuum powered windshield wipers which we were told he sold to General Motors for $200.
Roberts's son, our great great uncle Jim Redpath designed and built agriculture equipment. His building which still stands at 900 E Santa Fe was built in 1936. Jim, along with our great uncle Roy and grandfather C.D "Buck" Rogers created Rogers Manufacturing in 1960. They developed and manufactured a line of turf care equipment including sweepers and blowers for golf courses and parks. They sold that business to Jacobson MFG from Racine Wisconsin.
Buck and my father Steve Rogers left Jacobson in 1972 and formed Olathe MFG. They designed and built brush chippers and other tree care equipment. That business was sold to the Toro Company of Minneapolis Minnesota in 1994.
Our father Steve then brought back to life the Rogers MFG entity in 1994 and later shortened to RMI and built golf accessories such as flag poles and markers for golf courses. In 1996 he purchased a bankrupt powder coating company. In short order he built it into the largest custom coater in the area.
In 2000 RMI made the move into the golf cart business upon my graduation from Kansas State University. WE operated out of the old building on 900 E Santa Fe in Olathe. We were able to get the Yamaha, E-Z-GO, and Bad Boy line of golf, utility, and industrial carts and grow the business. In 2007 we moved into our current location, an 18,000 sq ft facility on 156th st in Olathe. We were excited to welcome my brother Mike Rogers to the family business after he too graduated from Kansas State.
Many of you will recognize the voice of Carol Rogers, our mother who answers most of the calls and generally hold the entire operation together. It's personal, it matters to us that our customers are taken care of and treated right. We have built a true one stop destination for golf + utility vehicles, parts + service, and look forward to many more years of servicing our customers.